New Research Says Playing on Smartphones at Work is Beneficial to You & Employer

If you’ve ever squeezed in a tweet here or there during your day job, you’re not alone.

And according to new research, you’re making excellent strides since it’s apparently a boon to business.

According to BusinessNewsDaily, two members of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology say it’s actually not necessarily a bad idea for employees to play on their smartphones during the day.

Sure, at first glance you feel kind of guilty, right? Although you may think it’s blocking your productivity or creativity, surfing the web, playing games and making phone calls isn’t a distraction.

Sooyeol Kim, one of the study’s authors, explained in the piece, “Having workers take small breaks on their phones throughout the day may positively influence their perceived well-being at the end of the workday.”

The key word here? Small.

Researchers essentially surveyed 72 workers from a range of different industries in South Korea. They also downloaded an app to their own smartphones that measured the time spent during the day on their phone.

Phone usage was split into three categories: social media, entertainment and leisure and personal and informative.

When employees took a short break to text friends, there was a positive relationship between that and how they felt at the end of their day. When employees also used their mobile devices for social media, they reportedly felt better than when they used the same devices for personal reasons.

Kim added:

“We buy smartphones so we can interact with people. We use them for social interaction, so I think that’s why social media was shown to make employees the most happy.”

Although researchers believe the studies show benefits for organizations and employees’ happiness during the day, let’s keep your own company’s policy on usage and taking small breaks.

Subscribe to Adweek

Featured Courses

Storytelling for Media ProfessionalsUse smart storytelling to build your brandLearn more >Digital Media Planning and BuyingBuild the foundation for successful media planning in a constantly evolving marketLearn more >Develop a Freelance Writing CareerBuild a thriving career as a freelancerLearn more >Digital Editorial ProductionMaster content management systems and the user experienceLearn more >See more Courses >